


Julian and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

by justabrain



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 04:32:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13139130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justabrain/pseuds/justabrain
Summary: After a shuttle accident scare, Doctor Bashir seems fine - at first. But when he collapses during his and Chief O'Brien's racquetball match, they know he is not as fine as he seemed.





	Julian and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for tumblr user asexualbrittaperry for the 2017 Star Trek Secret Santa gift exchange! Happy holidays!

“You know, a few years ago? I never would have believed you if you had told me that I would be happy to see the station,” Bashir mused from the rear of the shuttle.

O’Brien nodded. “I hear you. Now especially with Yoshi? Three days gone is much too long, _especially_ around the holidays. O’Brien to DS9.”

Jadzia’s voice echoed back through the com system. “Deep Space Nine here. You’re free to dock at pylon 3.”

“Thank—” A flashing red light on the console cut him off. “Hang on, there’s something—” 

A stream of gas suddenly burst from a panel next to the doctor. 

Spinning in his chair, O’Brien jumped to his feet. “Julian!” 

A moment later, he heard coughing, barely audible above the gas’s hissing. He took a deep breath, then darted into the thick of the gas that was quickly filling the back of the shuttle. Squinting against the stinging gas, he felt for his friend. A few long seconds passed, before he saw a shadow of Julian struggling to stand. O’Brien rushed over and grabbed his arm. Slowly, Julian half stumbled and half was dragged to the command console. With one hand, O’Brien dropped Julian into the command seat, and with the other, he slammed the comm button. 

“Jazdia, get us out of here! Medical emergency!” O’Brien called over Julian’s coughing.

A moment later, the familiar shimmering of the transporter began, the shuttle dematerialized, the station’s infirmary rematerialized. Two nurses rushed forward. As one prepared a hypospray, the other helped O’Brien get Julian onto a bed. Laying him on his side, the nurse activated the hypospray, and the coughing slowly subsided.

 

———

 

The next day, O’Brien stopped by the infirmary.

“Miles! What are you doing here?”

He looked across the room. “Well I _was_ coming to see you, but I guess you’re doing alright, if Sisko is letting you work.”

Julian smiled. “Well, whatever it was that was trying to kill me didn’t do a very good job of it. Once the coughing went away, I was just left with a bit of a headache and a bruise on my back from the panel. You still up for some racquetball this afternoon?”

Miles frowned slightly. “Are you sure? We can wait until next week.”

“Of course I’m sure.” Julian clasped the chief’s shoulder. “Maybe this time it’ll be an even match,” he said slyly.

“We’ll see about that,” Miles challenged with half a smile.

 

———

 

At 1630 hours precisely, Julian entered the racquetball court to find Miles waiting for him.

“You’re early!” the doctor observed.

“Just wanted to make sure everything was set.”

“Well,” Julian commented as he stretched, “it looks spotless. Shall we begin?” He stood and shook out his muscles.

“Game on!” 

And with that, Julian raised his racquet, glanced at Miles, and served the ball. It hit the opposing wall and bounced off the side of the room, before Miles hit it back. A few volleys later, Julian gained a point. Miles turned to toss the ball to Julian, who was bent, panting slightly. 

“Julian? You alright?”

“Yeah, I just… I just need to catch my breath. I’ll be fine.” He straightened and caught the ball. “You must be getting better.”

Miles glanced at him. “Must be.” Another serve, and as the ball volleyed, he kept an eye on the doctor. As he watched, Julian seemed to be moving more slowly. Instead of already being where the ball was going to land, he was getting there just as the ball was, or even a bit after. And… were his hits not as powerful?

Another point for Julian.

Miles shook his head to clear it. He needed to stop worrying about Julian, and just play the bloody game. Keiko was always chiding him for worrying too much about her and the children’s health; apparently that extended to his friends as well. He sighed as the serve hit the opposite wall. Moving into position, he bounced it off one of the side walls. Julian volleyed it back, then Miles. 

A point for Miles.

He looked behind him, and Julian was crumpled on the ground, gasping for air. Racing over, he knelt beside him. “Julian? Julian, are you alright?” No response. “Julian, look at me!” He didn’t move, apart from his gasping shoulders. “O’Brien to the infirmary, medical emergency!” Gently, he turned Julian onto his back, and found his eyes completely unfocused and unseeing. “Hang in there, Julian. We’ll take care of you.”

 

———

 

There were sounds — voices? — that were underwater. Or maybe _he_ was underwater — no, he could breathe. At least, his chest was moving and air was entering and exiting. At least, he thought it was air. He didn’t feel like he was suffocating, anyway. A nice change. 

Slowly, he pried his eyes open, only to be greeted by blinding light. He squinted and groaned. As if cued, the underwater voices grew louder. 

“…wake!”

“…hear…brain…toxin…”

“…time…”

The voices faded again, whether from distance or sleep, he wasn’t sure.

 

———

 

When he awoke the second time, the voices were still underwater. He tried once again to pry open his eyes, squinting against the blinding brightness. He gave up with a groan.

The voices stopped. 

“Doctor?”

Doctor… doct— was that him? He tried grunting in response.

“…doctor…so relieved!…didn’t know when…wake up.”

This voice… It was high. But soft. Nice. But who…?

He tried one more time to open his eyes, successfully this time. The overhead lights were so bright he couldn’t see anything, couldn’t focus. He tried glancing at the person speaking to find that there were two of them. One was wearing… blue. Dark hair? But it was all fuzzy… He gave up and closed his eyes.

 

———

 

‘…doing better. His body is fighting off the toxin, but there’s nothing else we can do to help him. Just rest and time.”

A murmur, then the sounds stopped. Cautiously, he opened his eyes. The light directly above his bed was very bright, but the rest of the room was tolerable. He tried to turn to see who was beside him. His head stopped half way to seeing the figure, but it was enough to get their attention. The figure leaned forward. Captain Sisko.

“Hello, doctor. How are you feeling?”

Feeling… He swallowed stiffly. “Fuzzy.”

“That’s probably the effects of the neurotoxin. The nurses say you’re lucky you didn’t inhale more of it, or there could have been more long-lasting damage…”

There was a pillow behind him, propping his head and shoulders up a few inches he noticed. And the room… it was cold. Was it always this cold? Everything was still fuzzy. The room, the captain’s voice…

“… full health in a few days.”

He blinked. “Time?”

The captain paused. “It’s, uh, it’s 1330 hours.” He tried to shake his head — nope, bad idea, that hurt. The captain continued. “You’ve been in the infirmary for almost 24 hours, if that’s what you’re wondering. Someone’s been sitting here the whole time.”

He almost nodded in understanding, but reconsidered. Instead, he decided on “Tired,” and let his eyes drift shut.

 

———

 

The lights were dimmer this time, and it didn’t hurt as much to turn to see who was sitting beside him. He smiled.

“Garak.”

“Ah, doctor, you’re awake! I was wondering if you would sleep the whole day away.” 

“Babysitting?”

“Yes, I volunteered. You missed our lunch yesterday, so I thought I could take the time to explain to you the beauties of this piece of literature — without any interruptions.”

“What…”

“It is about a Cardassian soldier who gets injured, but instead of dying gloriously, he lives out the rest of his miserable days in solitude and loneliness. 

“Up-lifting.”

“I see your infirmity has not dampened your sense of sarcasm, my dear doctor.”

A moment of quiet passed between the two friends, and Julian tried to push himself up to be sitting. Garak suddenly leaned forward to place a hand on his arm. 

“I would not recommend moving at the moment. The nurses say you’re still at the point where any major movement will hurt considerably.”

Julian sighed and leaned back. He paused for a moment. “Would you... Could I...” He took a breath. “Do you know where Kukalaka is?”

“Yes,” Garak answered with half a smile. “In fact, I anticipated your request, and stopped by your quarters on my way here.” He reached around to where Julian couldn’t see. A moment later, Kukalaka emerged, bringing a wide smile to Julian’s face. His arms felt lined by lead as he reached up and grabbed the bear. He let his lead-lined arms drape over Kukalaka as he hugged it close to his chest.

“Thank you.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a nurse said as he approached, “but the doctor needs to rest.”

As if cued by the suggestion, Julian yawned. 

“Good night, doctor.”

“Night, Garak.”

 

———

 

The next time he woke, he was greeted by the smiling face of Molly O’Brien. “Daddy, daddy! He’s awake!”

Julian smiled back, as Miles and Keiko walked over. 

“Molly, honey, why don’t you give Kukalaka back to Julian?” Miles prompted. “He fell onto the floor while you were asleep,” he explained as Molly handed over the bear.

“Oh, thank you! Did you take good care of him?” Molly nodded. “Good,” he said with a smile.

“Merry Christmas, Julian,” Miles said, stepping closer to the bed.

The doctor groaned. “Has it really been two days?” He sighed. “So much for that Christmas party.”

“Actually,” Keiko interrupted, “we thought it wasn’t fair for you to miss out on Christmas entirely.” She pressed a few buttons on the bed to raise the top portion and help him sit up. “So, we took the liberty of decorating.”

As the mild headache from the movement faded, he noticed that the ambient lights were a bit dimmer than normal, allowing the small Christmas tree in the corner to sparkle. Its points of light reflected off of the various ornaments and tinsel, doubling the number of lights that there appeared to be. 

“We can still have a Christmas party in a few days once you’re feeling better,” Keiko continued. “But in the meantime, I think Molly has one more thing to give you,” she said, nodding at her daughter. Molly skipped off to the tree, grabbed something from underneath it, then returned, handing the conspicuously wrapped present to Julian.

He smiled as he accepted the racquet-shaped gift. “Thank you, Miles — or should I say, thank you, Molly. I’m sure it will get used quite a lot in the coming year.”

“You can count on it. Merry Christmas, Julian,” Miles said with a smile.

“Merry Christmas. And— Thank you. For everything.”

“Anytime. That’s what friends do.”


End file.
